Lookie here

A Southern California wedding website called Green Wedding Shoes is one of my guilty pleasures. . . I frequent the website at least once a week.  One of the most recent couples to be featured on the site just said their vows in September before heading off on a six month journey around the world.  That is seriously brave, and probably a little crazy.  I’ve heard that the first year of marriage can hold a good deal of twists and turns so I can’t imagine how that would be compounded while traveling the world together.   Anyway, I digress; this couple also has a travel blog that I have become hooked on! It’s so adventurous and free spirited. I just thought I’d share some link love!  

Starting Afresh - Again

As an introvert, starting anew in a social setting is difficult. While I enjoy nurturing and deepening friendships, initiating them is always something I’ve had difficulty with. Recently I have had renewed inspiration for social interaction, and I’m taking advantage of it by getting out of the house and going to events alone. . .


So far so good!

I am just excited to have friends that are fewer than 600 miles away!

Slap my hand away. . .

Fall is definitely here. I’ve broken out the pea-coat and scarves, and my closet is bulging with all the old sweatshirts I’ve collected over the years. Yet, with this change in season I’ve contracted a case of the “Gimme’s.” Or, to put it bluntly, I’ve been materialistically minded. Everywhere I turn I’m confronted with a “great” deal on a pair of boots, a cute coat, a cap and suddenly what I own doesn’t seem to be enough. I’ve also been working with a personal trainer for a few months now, which is great for fitness, but not so great with temptation. I now see styles of clothing and think some of them might actually look NICE on me . . . and I therefore want to try them out.
When confronted with temptations like these, I’ll often think: “When I have a steady job, I’ll let myself splurge a little on them.” Just behind this thought is another one: “Would buying _________ (Insert: boots, scarves, coats, hats, jewelry etc. here) be fulfilling?” {And then a little “no” whispers back.}

And here we come to the heart of the matter. I hope you don’t mind a little play on words because the "heart" of the matter truly is the heart. It is so easy to fill my heart up with layers and layers of junk {in this case – fashion lust} that God gets pushed to the fringes. He faithfully stands in the background {because I’ve put Him there} and watches as I fill my head and heart with discontentment. . .

Until at last, I see it for what it is: {junk}, and I wonder. . . “HOW DID I LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!?”

Remedy

Sometimes, all you need is a great back-rub!

Lessons in the Works

I have to say this semester has been a hard one so far. I’m learning a lot. It’s interesting to me that in the past few years God has brought me to new stages of the same pain. These lessons are not new; they’re just more intense than the last struggles. But, they all end up boiling down to the same basic model. I thought I’d share some of the main lessons I am being taught:

1. To get over myself. {In so many ways.}
2. To extend the Grace I’ve been given. {This can be extremely difficult at times.}
3. To hand it over. {All of it.}
4. And, as always, to wait. . . . wait. . . wait on Him.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. "
Ephesians 2:8-9

October's Reading List

I love words. I love the way one can put words together to create ANYTHING! And as writing is my release, reading is my nourishment. Here are some books that I have read recently or I am currently reading:

Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
I just finished this one (for the sixth time) about a week ago. It’s one of the best books around. Don’t even argue with me.

Wuthering Heights:
Emily Bronte
Okay, so I’ve partially read this one. I read {sections of} the book from beginning to end, I still can’t believe such a young and inexperienced woman could write a novel with such warped characters. It kind of creeps me out.

Just as I am
Billy Graham
I’m not very far into this autobiography, but so far it is really interesting. I remember going to a Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles when I was younger and the man has captured my interest ever since. What an amazing guy!


Munich Signature
Bodie Thoene
This is the third installment in Thoene’s “The Zion Covenant” series. I’ve read the first two as well. The setting is primarily in Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, with America, England and France as smaller influences. It chronicles World War II in such a detailed and gripping way that I sometimes need to take a break from the Third Reich and read some lighter material!

Mere Christianity
C. S. Lewis
This is another book that I’ve quoted and read parts of. I still haven’t made it all the way through . . . not because I find it dull! I simply seem to always become distracted with other material before I finish. :-/ But I am determined to finish it!

The Long Road Home and The Princess
Lori Wick
Hmmmm . . . these are definitely “easy reads” and fairly shallow. Wick doesn’t develop characters, plot, or setting well, which makes me wonder why I read these. I also found several grammatical errors which bugs me!

The Sacred Romance
Brent Curtis and John Eldredge
I’m only on chapter three, but I like it so far! Though, as it is of a theological nature, I’m not going to promote it until I finish reading it. . .

**Clicking on the title of the book will connect you to Amazon.com**

Hurry up and Slow down

This October has been a month of weddings. In the midst of travelling, planning, preparing, communicating, taking tests early, classes, and other such wedding festivities I’ve thought a lot about what it really means to be married.

This is where my thoughts have landed:

Truly becoming united to man in every way seems daunting. Maybe the reason for this is that I don’t have a unique individual to place into my idea of “the one” or maybe it’s just that I have very little experience with relationships. Whatever the reason, I feel slightly frightened (and excited) about the prospect of marriage being a part of my future (hopefully). I am simultaneously glad and sad that I’m not there yet.

Autumn

Blogging is my artistic release. When I am most overwhelmed with thoughts, my first instinct is to write about it! Sometimes though, I can’t find time to blog, and my thoughts clog up like an unused ketchup bottle. It takes some pounding on the base of the bottle to get cohesive thoughts to form. So, here it goes:

Fall still hasn’t decided if it wants to come to Chico yet, but I’m praying that it’ll hurry up and decide! Here is a picture of a nearby street; I want to keep track of the color changes through the autumn.

I’ve loved living so near my cousins. We have some awesome moments.

And last blog topic for the day: my cousin Autumn, who is the closest thing to a sister to me, pledged her life to another this weekend. Everything about it was beautiful.